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HOUSTON – Five days after finding no takers on the trade market for their slumping Pro Bowl cornerback, the Indianapolis Colts boarded their team plane Saturday, bound for a date with AFC South rival Houston, while Vontae Davis stayed home.

Why?

A fuller explanation remains elusive 24 hours later, and the conflicting narratives that have emerged have cast a shadow over the relationship between the organization and a player who was once their top talent on defense. Most significant, though, is this: The apparent rift is a strong indication that Davis’ days with the Colts are numbered. The 29-year-old, nine-year pro and two-time Pro Bowler is set to become a free agent come March, and it’s very difficult to see the Colts ponying up again and meeting the price tag that Davis could command on the open market.

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The Colts found a way to win. Kind of. Let's not give them too much credit. T.Y. Hilton though? Doyel called him superb. Also, what about Vontae Davis?
Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Both Pro Football Talk and the NFL Network reported that Davis needs more treatment on the groin injury that cost him the first three games of the regular season. In a conversation a few weeks ago, Davis revealed that the groin injury is something he’s battled off-and-on for years, and is very likely something he’ll have to deal with long after his NFL career is over.

But he hasn’t been listed on the injury report for the groin since Week 3, and Davis has routinely been a full participant in practice, including Thursday and Friday last week. And even after the trade deadline came and went Tuesday, with Davis’ name floated as a player the Colts could be willing to ship out of town, he spoke highly of Indianapolis – the city he’s routinely said saved his career – and remained intent on playing Sunday against the Texans.

The Colts, officially, aren’t calling this an injury matter, and the team doubled down on that stance again Sunday. “Non-injury related,” the team wrote in its release of the news, and a league source confirmed as much Sunday, despite the multiple reports that contend otherwise.

Vontae Davis has routinely credited the trade to the Colts in 2012 as the move that saved his NFL career.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

So did Chuck Pagano, the man who made the decision. When asked if Davis would return to practice this week and be active for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, Pagano said, “Yeah.”

That’s a strong indication that Davis, in fact, isn’t battling a lingering injury, and the decision was made by Pagano to leave him at home for something different altogether. A player with a lingering groin injury typically isn’t expected to return to practice and play a week later. Pagano said Davis was.

The Colts’ coach offered no further clarification.

“Did he aggravate his groin?” Pagano was asked.

“Coach’s decision,” Pagano said.

“There are a lot of conflicting versions (of this story)...”

“Coach’s decision,” Pagano interrupted.

“Is he healthy?”

“Coach’s decision,” he said once more.

Davis did not respond when asked for comment.

It’s plausible that Davis was simply demoted. His play in recent weeks hasn’t been vintage Davis – far from it. He was burned a week ago in Cincinnati by a rookie fourth-rounder grabbing his first career touchdown, a fly ball from Bengals QB Andy Dalton that dropped into Josh Malone’s lap in the end zone while Davis was slow and late to get there. It was obvious then, as it’s been obvious most of the season: Davis simply hasn’t been himself.

And that’s not good for an aging cornerback in a contract year.

Three seasons after finishing as Pro Football Focus's second-rated corner in all of football – Davis allowed opposing QBs just a 38.8 rating – his play has dipped dramatically. In 175 snaps this year he's allowed 16 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown, and an opposing passer rating of 98.7. PFF ranks him 82nd among corners.

Complicating matters for Davis, in Rashaan Melvin and Pierre Desir, the Colts (surprisingly) have two capable cornerbacks, both of whom are playing better than him at the moment. Might Pagano have made the call to bench his former Pro Bowler, and might it have been a decision Davis didn’t like? That could explain a decision to leave Davis at home that wasn’t injury-related.

Pagano, whose own future in Indianapolis remains uncertain at best, has little to lose. Perhaps he felt like it was the time to put his foot down and echo a sentiment first-year General Manager Chris Ballard has emphasized since the day he arrived in town: The team will play the guys who deserve to play.

It’s been a nightmare of a season for Davis, a sharp digression from late this summer, when he was stellar on a daily basis in training camp. He was looking like the Davis of old, the best player on the defensive side of the ball, the backbone of a rebuilt secondary. Pagano said more than once that he’d never seen Davis play better on a consistent basis. Davis, himself, seemed to be drinking in the optimism. “I’m healthy and I’m ready,” he said as camp commenced. “If you ask me, I feel like a rookie all over again. I’ve never been this excited for a season.”

But an untimely injury – Davis aggravated that groin in the third preseason game – derailed his fast start. Davis returned to the starting lineup in Week 4 but hasn’t been anywhere near the same since.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano walks the sideline late in the second quarter during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (13) pulls in a pass along the sideline and is bumped out of bounds by Houston Texans free safety Andre Hal (29) in the second quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Houston Texans running back D'Onta Foreman (27) gets in the face of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Barkevious Mingo (52) after being tackled by Mingo behind the line of scrimmage at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (13) celebrates after pulling in a touchdown pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) early in the first quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is strip sacked by Houston Texans defensive back Eddie Pleasant (35) late in the second quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Houston Texans linebacker Lamarr Houston (58) picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts inside linebacker Antonio Morrison (44) and Houston Texans offensive guard Xavier Su'a-Filo (71) push each other after a play during the third quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) gets down after a first down gain against the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) watches from the bench as the Houston Texans drive down the field late in the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Back in August, he was dominant. In games this season, he’s been a liability.

Also significant to this mess: Davis and Pagano are close. The head coach and his wife traveled all the way to Puerto Rico for Davis’ 2015 wedding, the summer after Davis wrapped up his finest year as a pro. Back then Davis was a true shutdown corner, the guy quarterbacks were too scared to throw at. At one point, he went more than 1,000 consecutive plays without giving up a touchdown.

He was a Pro Bowler in 2014 and ’15, willing to admit the trade from Miami to Indianapolis in 2012 was the rude awakening he so desperately needed. Pagano, Davis often repeated, played a pivotal role.

“I’ve never had a coach like him,” Davis said in the midst of his best season. “The little things he’s taught me have gone a long way. He taught me the things you do outside the building carry over to what you do in the building.”

But that seems like forever ago. Now he’s getting left at home for a division game in Houston, no longer an instrumental piece to this defense, his future in Indianapolis seeming to fade with each passing week.